Earthquake Sacrifice
by KaylaDestroyer
Summary: Just a One-shot that I came up with. There's an earthquake, and Sid nearly get's crushed by by tree. Lucky for him, Diego comes to his rescue, but what happens to Diego?


The only Hurt/Comfort in this story is a small conversation between Ellie and Sid. And just so everyone knows, this is just a one-shot I wanted to put up because I had it in my mind.

...

Earthquake Sacrifice

_All seemed peaceful. Manny, Ellie, Sid, and Peaches were eating lunch, Crash and Eddie were playing, and Diego was napping in the warm sun. Then, a loud rumble shook the earth._

…_._

Sid was terrified; he had only experienced an earthquake one other time in his life. Trees were falling, boulders were tumbling around, and Sid had to spend every second trying to avoid being crushed. Then, out of nowhere, Diego came up beside him, and the two raced for their herd's home cave. Diego started to fall behind Sid, trying to avoid everything that was falling. Sid ran and ran, until all of a sudden, he heard a loud cracking sound.

He looked up, and saw that a tall oak tree was falling, falling on him! He stood frozen in place, unable to move out of fear. Then, just before it crushed him, Sid felt something push him out of the way. He hit the ground with a thud, eyes closed. He didn't move, didn't open his eyes, nothing.

He could feel the earth trembling beneath him, he could hear cracks and crashing. Then, just as suddenly as it begun, the earthquake stopped. Sid slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Everything had been destroyed. Loose stones were tumbling off piles of debris, and all was peaceful once again.

The only differences were that the scenery was now a huge mess, and there was a small eerie feeling in the air. He looked back toward the oak tree, and his eyes widened in horror. There, crushed underneath 10 tons of wood, unconscious, was Diego.

Sid jumped up and ran over to Diego. He grabbed the saber's paws and pulled with all his strength. After trying many times without succeeding, Sid began to cry out for help. " HELP! HEEELP! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HEEEEEEEEEELP! " he screamed, while pulling on Diego. Finally, when he felt as though he couldn't scream or pull anymore, help arrived.

Manny, Ellie, Peaches, Crash, and Eddie had all made it to the home cave safely, and when the earthquake was over, they had come out to look for Diego and Sid. When they heard Sid's cries, they rushed towards the sound, and found Sid pulling at something caught underneath a fallen oak tree.

Sid all of a sudden saw the tree lifting up, and looked to his right and left to see Manny and Ellie using their tusks to lift it up. When they had it high enough, Crash and Eddie helped Sid pull Diego out. Ellie gasped when she saw Diego, and she and Manny quickly set the tree back down. " What happened? " Ellie asked Sid.

Sid's eyes began to fill up with tears, " I was running with Diego, and then he started to fall behind, but I couldn't really do anything about it ,so I kept on running. " Sid answered, and a tear rolled down his cheek. " And then, I heard a cracking sound, and I looked up to see the oak tree falling. I was so scared I couldn't move. " Sid was choking his words out as tears streamed down his face. " And then, just before it crushed me, I felt something push me out of the way, over to there, " he said, pointing to where he had landed. " Then I looked back, and I saw Diego crushed under the tree! " he finished, and then started to cry.

Crash put a hand on Sid's arm, " It's okay. " he said, trying to soothe the sloth. All of a sudden, Diego started to moan.

" Diego? Are you alright? " Sid asked him.

" Ugh, well, I feel pain, but that's about it. " Diego answered groggily. He started to get to his feet.

" Diego honey, are you sure you can stand? " Ellie asked him.

" I don't know but I'll try. " Diego answered. He stood up, but as soon as he did so, he fell back down and cried out in pain, grabbing his side.

" Diego! " Ellie exclaimed.

" Uh, my side, there's something wrong with it! " Diego said, forcing his words through clenched teeth, then hissed in pain. He moaned as Ellie used her trunk to gently press on his side, trying to see if she could feel what was wrong with it. Sid suddenly noticed that Diego's side looked lumpy and irregular. After a few moments, Ellie looked up, and her face looked ashen.

" Sid, when you saw Diego under the tree, was he lying on his side? " she asked him. Sid nodded. Ellie sighed and said, " I'm no doctor, but I think it's safe to say that every bone on the left side of his ribcage is, " she paused, and Sid feared the worst. " broken. " Ellie finished.

Sid looked down at Diego, tears still flowing, " No! " he whispered. _" That could've been me! " _Sid thought. Diego continued to moan, and Sid felt more and more awful.

" Is he gonna' be okay? " Crash asked worriedly.

" If we get him to a doctor soon, yes. " Ellie answered him. With that, she and Manny gently picked the saber up and set him on Manny's back, seeing as he was in no condition to walk. They traveled to the only doctor in the whole valley, and found that even though the earthquake had destroyed her area too, she was still open. They waited for about fifteen minutes, and then she came for Diego. She was a female sloth with a pelt the same color as Sid's, only not as dirty.

Her name was Doctor Mclaire, and she had Manny carry him to a room with bed of leaves and doctor equipment. She told the rest of the herd to stay there and wait. When they reached the room, and Manny had set Diego down, she asked him what had happened. She wasn't very surprised at Manny's story, and said that many other patients that day had come with the same problem, just not as severe. She told him to go back to the rest of the herd, and that she would take care of him.

When the door was shut, she turned to Diego, who was laying on his right side. She gave him some medicine she said would just make him fall asleep.

…...

Back with the herd, Manny came back without Diego, and said that Doctor Mclaire said she would take care of him. He looked over at Sid, who was staring sadly at the floor, twiddling his claws and sighing.

" Sid, are you feeling alright? " he asked the sloth. Sid stopped twiddling and put his head down.

" I just feel a little…guilty! " he said.

" Guilty? About what? " Ellie asked, overhearing the conversation.

" If I had waited up for Diego, or had at least been slower, the oak tree might not have had the chance to fall on me _or _Diego! It's because of me Diego's hurt so bad! " Sid replied, crossing his arms with tears streaming down his face.

" It's not your fault! " Eddie said, coming over and putting a hand on Sid's arm. Crash came up to Sid too.

" Diego sacrificed himself for you because he wanted to make sure _you _didn't get hurt! " Crash said. " That's how much he cares about you! "

Sid stared at Crash for a moment, and Manny and Ellie glanced at each other. " I knew.. Diego…. cared about me. But… nobody's ever cared about me that much before. He's saved my life at least _three _times since I met

him! " he said.

" Oh, sweetheart, we _all _care that much about you! " Ellie said, rubbing underneath Sid's chin with her trunk. Sid looked up at her and smiled.

" And I'm sure Diego will be just fine. " she continued. Sid smiled even wider. They waited about three and a half hours, and then the doctor returned.

She was smiling, " Your friend is alright. He will have to stay here for two months while his body heals, though. " she said.

" Your sure he'll recover? " Manny asked with concern.

" Yes. He will recover completely. Although he might not have had a chance to if you hadn't brought him in when you did. " Doctor Mclaire answered him.

" Heh, that's a relief! " Crash said, smiling. Sid smiled too.

_Two Months Later-_

The herd was walking home from the doctor's, Diego in tow. He had finally healed, and was walking and running like normal again. During those two months, to take their minds off Diego, the herd and the rest of the valley had all worked together to clean up the debris from the earthquake. It was nearly done, and now that he was healed, Diego would be able to participate as well, and in a few weeks, the whole valley was cleaned and the plant life had begun to grow back.

The night the valley was completely clean, Sid woke Diego up when the rest of the herd had fallen asleep. " Diego? Diego? " Sid asked, gently shaking the saber awake.

Diego murmured, then opened his eyes, " Yeah, Sid? " he answered the sloth.

" Thanks for saving my life, it means a lot to me. " Sid said, smiling a little.

Diego smiled back, " I would assume someone's life would mean a lot to them. " he said, and they both giggled.

" I mean, " Sid said, " You.. and the rest of the herd… are the first ones I've ever met that would risk their lives for me, or actually _want_ me around." he said.

" Your welcome. " Diego said, a genuine smile on his face. Then he yawned and went back to sleep. Sid smiled, lay down, and soon dozed off himself.

…...

What do you think? Did I do a good job? Please tell me your opinion.


End file.
